RIVER | JJ MAYBANK

SIX

STANDARD TISSUES

JJ knocked on the door and waited a second in case someone answered. River looked up to the dirty blonde haired boy, he offered her a small smile. Which she returned in order to pretend that the words he just said hadn't hurt her.

She hated that she was so affected by the fact that he flirted with anything with a pulse. She just wished that she could tell him how she felt, maybe then it could be just them too. But she knew JJ didn't feel the same way.

"Housekeeping!" JJ said in a high pitched voice. River shook her head and let out a small laugh.

"Should we try it?" John B questioned, looking between the two anxiously as he looked towards the lock.

"Yeah." JJ paused, he wrapped his arms around River's shoulders, and rested his head on hers.

River's hands wrapped around his wrist, she fiddled with his friendship bracelets, as John B unlocked the door. She needed to pretend like everything was normally and she wasn't upset. That way, he wouldn't know.

"No power. No cameras. No ones gonna know." JJ shrugged. "After you baby girl." JJ said unwrapping his arms.

"Really?" River gasped sarcastically. "I'm so honoured you coward." She joked, swing the door open and walking into the room.

She shook her head at the fact that he was scared to enter. She knew that the apartment would be abandoned. She just had a gut feeling about these things and usually she was right.

"Huh." John B said noticing the room was empty. "Check the bag. See if there's a name on there somewhere." He said to JJ pointing to the bag on the stool.

River made herself busy and looked in the draws, wondering she she could find anything of use or value. Only to find them basically empty. She pouted in response and turned to look at the two boys.

"I got a jacket." JJ announced as he continued to rifle through the bag.

"Denim slides." John B spoke up as he unzipped the duffel bag.

"No name in the jacket. It's a nice jacket though." JJ added as he fiddled with the tag.

The blonde girl watched the way he eyes up the jacket. She wouldn't be surprised if he attempted to take it, which is why she reminded him that he wasn't allowed.

"You can't take it." River reminded the boy.

He was known for stealing a few things on the odd occasion. He was a mild kleptomaniac but everyone still loved him. She could even remember how many times she went to go and pick him up from the police station.

"Definitely over 50. He's got New Balances." John B said picking up a pair of shoes and throwing them back into the duffel bag.

JJ walked over to the beside table and looked at the coordinates on a post it note, that was stuck to a map. "Yo, dude come here. Maybe this is where they were fishing." River jumped over the bed and stood next to JJ.

He turned to look at River, a warm smile forming on his face once he realised how close they were. Slowly, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her as close as possible.

"Let me see." John B said joining them.

"Right there." JJ pointed.

River couldn't deny the cliche butterflies that JJ was giving her, he made her heart flutter and her stomach flip. She lover the way that the pads of his fingers traced patterns into her skin.

"No that's off the continental shelf. That's the Big Swell. Nobody fishes there." John B said looking at the coordinates.

"Okay." JJ shrugged, he gave River's waist a light squeeze before pulling away and continuing looking around.